Elizabeth Van Lew: Spymaster
Elizabeth Van Lew was a wealthy southerner from Richmond, Virginia who became a Union spy during the Civil War. Born on October 25th, 1818 into a slave-holding family, Van Lew learned to dislike...
View ArticleCivil War Prison Camps
Civil War prison camps were notoriously filthy and disease-ridden camps, warehouses, forts and prisons that held an estimated 400,000 captured soldiers, as well as spies and political prisoners, during...
View ArticleAfrican Americans in the Civil War
African Americans played an important part in the Civil War. From soldiers and laborers to nurses and spies, their presence had a significant impact on the outcome of the war. Soldiers and Laborers It...
View ArticleSarah Emma Edmonds: Female Spy of the Union Army
Sarah Emma Edmonds was a female soldier and spy during the Civil War. Edmonds was born on a farm in New Brunswick, Canada in 1841, to Isaac Edmonds, of Scotland, and Elizabeth Leeper, of Ireland. In...
View ArticlePauline Cushman: The Spy of Cumberland
Pauline Cushman was a stage actress who later became a spy for the Union army. Born Harriett Wood in New Orleans in 1833, Cushman was raised in Michigan but returned to Louisiana at age 18 to became a...
View ArticleLoreta Janeta Velazquez: Spy and Soldier
Loreta Janeta Velazquez was a Cuban-born woman, raised in New Orleans, who became a soldier during the Civil War. Much of what is known about Velazquez comes from her memoir “The Woman in Battle,” but...
View ArticleMary Elizabeth Bowser: Spy of the Confederate White House
Mary Elizabeth Bowser was a slave who later became a spy for the Union army during the Civil War. Born as Mary Elizabeth Richards, sometime around the year 1839, she was a slave of John Van Lew of...
View ArticleCivil War Food
Civil War food was very different from the types of food we eat today. Due to war-time food shortages and a lack of both refrigeration and large-scale food processing, most meals were simple, easy to...
View ArticleEdwin Booth Voted for Abraham Lincoln
Despite his connection to his Confederate-sympathizing brother, John Wilkes Booth, stage actor Edwin Booth voted for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. John Wilkes Booth was reportedly deeply disappointed by his...
View ArticleCaptain Sally Louisa Tompkins: Nurse and Officer in the Confederate Army
Sally Louisa Tompkins was a Civil War nurse and the only officially commissioned female officer in the Confederate Army. Born on November 9, 1833 into a wealthy Virginia family, Tompkins was the...
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